RX 450-h Shocks / Struts / Air Suspension

[sw710]

Hi all. My 2013 Rx450h has a knocking from front suspension (air suspension) under 40k miles. Took it to the Lexus dealer and they said front LHS shock needs replacing under warranty. 

 

My questions are:

 

1) is 40k low for work suspension - is this a Lexus weakspot ?

2) should i ask them to replace both sides / front and back ?

3) how much would this be if I were paying ?

4) should I get a service / MOT done early before the warranty ends (in 6 weeks) to flush out any other problems ?

 

Really appreciate any advice.

Steve

 

[tom123]

23 minutes ago, sw710 said:

4) should I get a service/MOT done early before the warranty ends (in 6 weeks) to flush out any other problems?

They should do a health check when your car is in for the suspension work which may pick up any other issues, but no harm in getting an MOT done.

Since you have air suspension I would consider getting an extended warranty through Lexus as this works out at about £500 a year with the current offer. Air suspension long-term reliability seems to be a problem across all manufacturers, but 40K miles is certainly very early.

[sw710]

Thanks - does anyone have any views on the other questions ?

[PCM]

Think on my Rx300, they were £1200 per corner!

 

[rayaans]

1) hit or miss, some cars go loads of miles with air suspension, others dont.

2) Doesnt make sense replacing good parts

3) £1-1.5k is about the norm

4) Get a service done, no point getting MOT done. Reason being - that if there is an issue, the MOT will show as a fail, whereas a Service should point out any issues. Also, the MOT doesn't check as many items as the Service does, its just to ensure your car is road safe thats it.

[ChrisKaye]

On air suspension you don't need to replace the struts in pairs.

On the older RX the top mount on the front suspension (which includes a bearing) was unfortunately unavailable separately and even if the air suspension strut was fine (other than the top mount which is known to make knocking sounds over speed bumps for example) - the only real option was to replace the whole strut ~£1000 :( all for a part that's usually £40-60 on other cars!!!

This maybe different on the newer model RX's but I doubt it.

To give you some peace of mind most air struts last 80-100k miles before they rot away or the air bags/springs perish and leak. On the Lexus RX if you were to have a compressor go or a wiring or solenoid issue, you'd be very unlucky as they tend to be more reliable than other manufacturers like Range Rover or even BMW X5's (although their air springs are a damn sight cheaper to replace!)

See if you can get confirmation if the strut is leaking air, if not and it is the top mount as I suspect, then you may want to keep the old part when they change it and wang it on eBay as air suspension parts are like gold dust and could sell around £300 - don't let them stick it in the bin!!!

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[sw710]

Thanks all. Will get a service and probably go for the 2 years additional warranty at £995 ! they confirm that only one strut needs replacing and that they need to send it to Lexus HQ for analysis !? I might ask again though.